What Comes Out of the Sky
by Penny-in-the-sky
Summary: Alternate Universe: What if it were the other way around, with Liz, Maria and Alex being the aliens?
1. Consequences

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A/N (long): This is a story I worked quite a lot on about a year ago, but never posted anywhere. Recently I found it again and felt that I should post it, seeing as I spent so much time on it (and seeing as I haven't posted anything _at all_ here in ages, due to serious writer's block and lack of time). Anyway, the storyline may seem sort of stupid, but it's just an idea that popped into my head one morning (literally popped: I woke up and opened my eyes and – pop – the idea was there) and which I felt I had to make into a story. I don't know if anyone has had the same idea before me, and written a fic about it – if they have I'm sorry – but I've never read one so I'll just pretend it's my idea.

I also have to apologize for the corny quotes in the beginning of each part, that was just something I'd always wanted to do… I hope it doesn't bother you too much.

I'm not really expecting anyone to read this, seeing as it's pretty out of date and the series have ended and all, but should somebody happen to stumble upon it, it would be nice if you left a quick review and let me know what you think. Thanks in advance!

One more thing: I started writing this before Alex died, and when I found out he had died, I still decided to keep him in the story, because I love his character. So he plays a pretty big part in this story.

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DISCLAIMER: Don't own the characters, only the rights to the story.

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PART 1

***

"Help others, but when you do, do not forget yourself"

-Buddha-

***

Liz Parker had always been in awe of the way things had a tendency to take such drastic turns. She was a true believer in all that "live for the moment" crap, which so many claimed to live by, yet so few actually adapted as a lifestyle. And she had seen very up close and personal versions of these drastic turns, so she knew that each day could be her last, therefore forcing her to live it to it's fullest. Then there was that word she hated. 

Consequences. It terrified her that a very minor event could bring with it the most fatal consequences. But at the same time it fascinated her, the way things constantly evolved out of one another, the way everything depended on everything else, and that nothing could happen without something following it.

And now here she suddenly was. Wading in a deep pool of consequences and the aftermath of drastic turns. And fate. And though it wasn't major enough to put her in a petrified state yet, it seemed to her as if she sensed the greatness of what was to come.

The proportions of the consequences.

***

It had all seemed so normal at first. 

She'd arrived at the Crashdown, got into her alien costume and figured herself being in for a common, everyday shift, with lousy tips and the occasional grumpy customer. Maria had been whining about some English assignment and Liz herself had been somewhat casually worried about the next day's history test. Everything had went on as usual, with Alex checking in once to deliver a few books and eat a free meal.

Max Evans arrived with his sister around the same time he usually came in. Liz greeted him, as usual, and took their orders, well aware of Max's searching stare. It didn't make her uncomfortable anymore, she was pretty used to it. At first his soulful gaze on her had made her feel a bit awkward around him, but now it was just part of the routine, it seemed. And he did, after all, have a girlfriend. Not someone Liz cared that much for, just some perky, rather shallow cheerleader named Tess. Max had actually, during one of their occasional conversations in chemistry class, pointed out to Liz that he wasn't really in love with Tess, making sure she understood that it probably wouldn't last that long. She'd nodded, somewhat flattered by the attention he gave her. After all, she wasn't all that popular, and he was one of the most "wanted" guys in school.

However, this day she was in the midst of being gazed at as usual, when two men walked in, took a booth and started arguing loudly. Maria took their orders and returned to Liz looking annoyed.

"God, some people are having serious behavior issues," she said, indicating the arguing men. Liz looked at her questioningly.

"Well," Maria went on. "I take their orders, tell them to have a nice day and one of them actually tells me to piss off."

"Piss off?" Liz said, surprised. "Maybe I should get dad to ask them to leave."

"Nah, it probably won't be a problem," Maria said. "So… Did Max have anything interesting to say?"

Liz rolled her eyes at her grinning friend. "You just can't let it go, can you?"

"Not as long as I'm working here, forced to wear this stupid costume," Maria said. "And with my luck, that's probably gonna be a long, long time."

Liz smiled at her, and Maria went off to take more orders. As she was standing there by the counter, refilling some napkin holders, Liz suddenly felt a shadow fall over her. She looked up and straight into the dark eyes of Max Evans. She smiled uncertainly at him and he returned the smile.

"Hey," he said with that characteristic deep voice.

"Hey," Liz said, swallowing hard.

"So… Busy, eh?"

"Umm, sort of, yeah…"

"So I see."

She would have laughed at the fumbling, few words of the conversation, if it weren't for the fact that she was constantly aware of his eyes on her.

"Are you done with the, uh, the… the assignment?" Max asked.

"I'm working on it. Pretty tough, though."

"Yeah, definitely. Very tough."

She smiled at him again and they stood there just looking at each other for a while. Liz was well aware of the fact that this couldn't possibly lead to anything, and that he probably didn't wish for anything serious to happen, but it was always nice to know that someone liked you in that way.

The silent conversation between their eyes came to an abrupt end as Maria's scream echoed through the diner. Max spun around to see what it was about, and Liz didn't know how it happened, but suddenly he was lying there on the floor in front of her, a growing patch of blood on his shirt. She had a faint memory of a gun going off, but it was all so confusing, she couldn't put it together.

The first thought that came into her mind was to save him. She kneeled down next to him, as she heard Isabel screaming her brother's name and running up to them. Liz told her to go phone an ambulance and she did so, leaving Liz with Max's lifeless body in front of her.

Everything else disappeared. Liz pulled up his shirt over his chest, exposing the wound. Her heart was racing and her head was spinning but she knew she had to do this. Far off she heard Maria speak to her, telling her not to do it, telling her to wait for the ambulance. But Liz did not listen.

She patted Max's cheek, urging him to look at her. His head rolled a bit before he managed to open his eyes. He looked at her, confusion all over his now pale features.

"Liz," he whispered and she told him to be quiet. She placed a hand over his wound and focused all her energy on the spot, using all her strength to bring back the life of the boy in front of her who was far too young to die. Images flashed through her head. Images of Max as a child, of her as a child, of Max and Isabel getting off the bus, of Max looking at her in the hallways.

She squeezed her eyes together, feeling the power drain from her, feeling the stabbing pain in her own chest as her heart started slowing down.

It was time to stop. She shut off the energy flow and fell back as it let go of her. Max was staring back at her, now resting on his elbows. He looked down at his now healed chest, then back up at her again. Without taking his eyes off of her, he slowly sat up and pulled his shirt down. His expression was one of confusion and disbelief.

Maria pulled Liz up to her feet, urging her to leave the café, telling her that she'd take care of the rest. Liz nodded, reaching out for a ketchup bottle. She broke the bottle on the counter and poured it's contents over Max.

"Ketchup," she said hoarsely. "You spilled ketchup."

He nodded, but clearly not understanding anything of what had just happened. It was all over in less than a minute. She let Maria pull her out in the back, and she rushed from the diner, her only thought to get as far away from there as possible.

*** 

And now it had been three hours. All the while she'd been sitting here in Maria's room, waiting for her friend to finish her shift. Waiting and fearing. And knowing that she might just, in one single minute, have blown the cover they'd worked so hard to keep during all these years. She wondered desperately what was going on. Maybe the sheriff was there now, asking everyone a ton of questions, getting the full story of what had happened. She couldn't remember how many people had been at the diner at the time of the shooting, it was all a blur. For all she knew it could've been plenty. For all she knew they were all at this very moment telling the sheriff about the freaky girl who somehow fixed a gunshot wound.

For all she knew Max Evans was telling him his version.

She closed her eyes, breathing hard. This was not good. Most definitely not good. She was working herself up more and more, and was just about to start hyperventilating when the door opened. She jumped up at the sudden noise, ready to flee through the window. A pair of hands grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back down on the bed.

"Relax, it's me," Maria said to her. Liz breathed a couple of sighs of relief, and realized she was trembling.

"Christ, look at you," Maria went on, shaking her head. "One might think you'd seen a ghost or somethin'." Liz couldn't manage a smile. The smiles had fallen off of her somewhere on that panicky, paranoia rush to Maria's house.

"Maria," she gasped, and found she had trouble breathing, but went on anyway. "Maria, what happened, after I… after I left?"

Maria looked at her grimly.

"What could've been expected, I guess," she began. "The ambulance came, and the paramedics were sort of pissed when they saw that no one was actually hurt. Then Valenti came, too, and asked everyone, like, two million questions, but there weren't all too many people there. Most of them ran off when that man pulled out the gun."

Liz exhaled, relieved. "What about Max?" she asked.

Maria sighed. "Max... Max played his part, I guess. The sheriff asked him all kinds of things, but he kept claiming that he broke a bottle and spilled ketchup."

Liz nodded. "But Liz, this isn't the end of it," Maria went on. "I'm telling you, from the look on Max's face, if the sheriff would've asked him just a few more things, he would most certainly have spilled and then that would've been it."

Liz squeezed her eyes together. How did she manage? How on earth did she manage to get herself into these kinds of things? "Maybe we should call Alex." Her voice was barely a whisper. Maria nodded. "I just don't know what the hell we're supposed to do about Max," she said, shaking her head.

"It'll be okay, Maria," Liz whispered, her voice giving away all of her uncertainty. "I'll take care of it.

***

When Isabel went into her brother's room to say goodnight, she found him sitting motionless on the bed.

"Max?" she said, trying to get his attention, but he was just staring at some spot in front of him. She sat down next to him. Only then did he realize that she was there.

"Oh, hey Iz," he said distractedly, before going back to the wallstaring. She sighed.

"Max, what exactly happened to you at the café today?"

She could almost swear he froze at her question. Satisfied with his reaction she decided to go on. "Are you sure you weren't hurt?"

He still didn't say anything. "Max? Were you hurt?"

He kept staring at the wall, but she noticed that he had brought a hand up to his chest, scratching lightly. She observed his seemingly pointless scratching before speaking again.

"Max, were you hurt? Was that where you were hurt?"

But all he did was scratch and stare and she felt that it was all really a waste of time. She was positive that something had happened at the Crashdown today, and she vowed to herself to find out what it was, but tonight just wasn't the right time for that.

"Goodnight Max," she said before rising and leaving the room, without getting any reply from her brother.

The moment the door closed behind her, Max rose from the bed and walked up to the full length mirror standing in the corner. He pulled his t-shirt up and studied the strange, silver handprint glimmering on his chest.

*** 

"Oh man, oh man, oh man. I don't believe this."

Alex paced back and forth in Maria's room, every now and then running an unsteady hand through his hair, or clutching his forehead.

"This is just... This is so extremely... It's unbelievable! That's what it is! Unbelievable."

"Yes Alex, in the same degree as it was the first time you informed us of it's unbelievableness." Maria sighed, rather annoyed at her friend's pacing.

"There is no such word as unbelievableness," Liz pointed out solemnly from her position by the desk.

"So shoot me!" Maria snapped at her. "Or chop me up or dissect me, 'cause that's surely what's going to happen soon anyway."

"I don't believe it!" Alex said again, lost in his own world of total disbelief. "It's... unbelievable! That's the right word for it."

"We're not going to get chopped up," Liz said, sounding more tired each minute. "Nothing bad is going to happen."

"How can you say that?!" Maria exploded. "Liz, you used your powers publically! You broke the rules! You... you betrayed our trust! So don't you dare give me all that "it's gonna be okay" bullshit 'cause it isn't! It's not gonna be okay!"

"Well, what was I supposed to do, Maria?" Liz shot back. "Should I have let him die? Huh? Would that have been better?"

"Maybe he wouldn't have died," Maria said.

"Come on, who are you trying to fool with that? His insides were torn apart! Who's giving the bullshit now?"

Maria just glared at her, crossing her arms.

"I just don't believe it," Alex said. Maria was about to yell at him, when he broke the pattern and said something else. "We have to talk to him," he stated firmly. Maria raised her eyebrows at him.

"Talk to who? Max?"

"Yeah. We have to tell him." Alex was eerily calm. "We have to tell him everything and we have to make sure he doesn't pass it on to anyone."

"Well, that should be easy," Maria sneered. "Just promise him a night of passion with Liz and you'll have him do anything you tell him."

"Shut up, Maria," Liz snapped. "Alex is right. We have to tell him and make sure he stays silent."

"What, like nail his lips together? 'Cause I'd be happy to."

Liz glared at Maria. "I'll talk to him tomorrow," she said. Maria shrugged. "Fine," she said. "I just want you to know that I won't hold back on the "I told you so"'s when we're all scattered in a hundred different jars in some upnorth government lab."

"I'll talk to him tomorrow," Liz repeated. "I'll make sure he stays silent."

*** 

Max awoke after approximately four and a half hours of sleep by Isabel hitting him on the arm with a hairbrush.

"Max! Get up! We're late!"

Max sat up in bed, trying to get his still sleeping mind into some kind of order.

"You don't have time to eat any breakfast, Max. Just get out of the bed and into some clothes and then we have to get going. We have to pick up Michael in ten minutes."

With that Isabel rushed out of the room. Max got out of bed and looked around. He didn't seem to have any clean clothes lying around. He sighed. Right now the last thing he wanted to do was go to school. He just wanted to go back to bed and sleep for twentyfour hours til the next morning.

And then he remembered. The memories of everything that had happened the previous day hit him with such force that he had to steady himself against the wall. And he knew he had to get to school so that he could talk to Liz about it.

Without giving it much thought he pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt and headed out the door.

They picked up Michael at the trailer park and headed off to school. Isabel was a big bundle of nerves over her "lunch meeting" with Darla Simmons, senior and head of the student council. Apparently she was going to try and get Isabel into some fancy girls' group which had dinners every week and in which "every girl worth knowing in the entire town is a member", as Isabel said.

"And so anyway," she went on, "Darla's gonna put in a good word for me, and if they want me in I'll be at the first dinner thing on Friday!"

"Sounds like a hoot," Michael said sarcastically from his position in the back seat.

"Oh, shut up. You're just jealous." Isabel just couldn't seem to wipe off the giddy grin she'd had on her face all day.

Michael just smirked at her before turning his attention to Max, who practically hadn't said a single word during the ride. "So Max, I heard there was a bit of commotion at the Crashdown yesterday." Max didn't answer, so Isabel spoke instead.

"Yeah, this guy with a gun fired a shot, but amazingly the bullet disappeared and no one was injured." She looked meaningly at her brother. "Right Max?"

Max just nodded. "Right. No one was injured."

Michael shook his head. "I can't believe you still go there all the time. Get over that Parker chick already, Max."

"That's what I've been trying to tell him," Isabel said. "I say "Come on Max, how about we go to Gordon's instead", 'cause they've got this real cute, and most importantly, older guy working there, 'cause I mean, it should be my turn too, you know? But nooo, somehow my darling brother is always in the mood for saturn rings, ET burgers and all that other alien shit."

"Listen to your sister," Michael said. "You can't go there anymore. It'll ruin our reputation. Plus, I don't think Tess's too happy about you drooling over another girl."

"I'm not drooling over anyone," Max said, therefore joining in the conversation for the first time. "And anyway, I don't give a shit about what Tess thinks."

"Whatever," Michael said and sank back in his seat. "I'm just looking out for you. But if you don't wanna listen, that's fine. Just don't come crawling to me when everyone turns their back on you and you'll be nothing more than one of those pathetic science geeks, whose only goal in life is to work and then die."

"Thanks for the support, Michael," Max said sarcastically. "Nice to know I've got friends."

Michael just shrugged at him.

When they pulled in on the parking lot a group of girls was waiting for them. As they stopped the car the group, led by Tess, came up to them. Max suddenly found himself caught in a passionate kiss as his girlfriend greeted him. As they drew apart she grinned at him.

"Hey there, gorgeous," she drawled in what 90 percent of the school's male population would call a sexy voice, but which Max only found more annoying every day.

"Hey," he said, attempting a smile. Meanwhile, Michael was being attacked by the rest of the group, all dying to run their fingers through his trademark hair. Isabel headed straight into the school building to do some mental preparation for her lunch meeting.

Tess insisted on clinging to Max as he made his way into the school, and when they finally reached her locker he was glad to be released from the burden. She made him promise her a dozen times to meet her at lunch before he could leave for class.

He checked his watch. He was late. Not like that was going to make him hurry, though. He had vowed to himself never to rush anywhere, no matter how late he was. It would completely ruin his image.

It was only first when he already had opened the door to the classroom that he realized what class it was.

Chemistry. He stood by in the doorway and was suddenly hesitant to go in. All heads turned towards him as he stood there frozen.

"Mr Evans, good morning," the teacher said and he mumbled a reply. His eyes drifted over the class 'til they reached the only person in the room who wasn't looking at him. Liz was staring down at her book, seemingly very fascinated by the diagrams she found there. He stood there observing her and was totally unaware of everyone else. At least 'til the teacher reminded him of their presence.

"Mr Evans, would you care to take a seat so that we can proceed?"

Max looked back at him, startled. Then he remembered where he was and made his way past all the desks to take his seat next to Liz.

She barely greeted him. After mumbling something that could be interpreted as a good morning, she kept her eyes locked on her book. They did all the laborations without her eyes meeting his, not even once. When the class was over, she quickly packed her things together before exiting the classroom.

But he was determined to talk to her, so he rushed past everyone, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her into the nearby music room. It all went so fast that she didn't even have time to protest. He carefully closed the door before turning around to face her.

***

Michael strolled around in the corridors, whistling a tune, waiting for Max to finish his chemistry class. Right now he was sort of bored and almost, but only almost, regretting that he hadn't decided on attending art class this morning. It seemed sort of pointless skipping classes when you were all alone doing it.

He heard footsteps echoing through the hall and a twinge of hope struck his heart. Maybe it was somebody he could talk to. But his heart sank as the person came into sight.

Alex Whitman. He made a face. Not really a potential object of conversation. The tall, skinny boy didn't make any sign of having noticed Michael, he walked on, studying the paper in his hands. Michael stood there, pondering if he should greet him or not, and finally decided to, seeing as there wasn't anybody else in the halls, so he really didn't have anything to lose.

"Hey," he said as Alex came closer. Alex's head shot up, apparently startled by the sudden voice. "Uh, hi," he said unsurely, probably wondering if it was some sort of joke.

"Having fun?" Michael asked. He knew it sounded lame, but what the hell, he wanted to keep the conversation going so that he wouldn't bore to death.

"Umm, yeah, I'm just, just, you know, walking around," Alex stammered.

"Didn't figure you for skipping class," Michael said.

"No, no, I'm not skipping, not skipping class, I'm... I'm on my way to deliver this…" He held the paper up for Michael to see. Michael raised his eyebrows.

"Absence form? Where've you been?"

"Minnesota. I visited my cousins."

Michael nodded, pretending to be interested, but he noticed as well as Alex that this conversation was running dry.

"I should... go," Alex said.

"Okay, have fun," Michael said, leaning against the wall.

"Yeah." Alex rushed away from the awkward situation. Michael sighed. What a complete waste of time, he thought.

The bell rang and students began filing out of the classrooms. Michael spotted Max and was about to go up to him when he saw his friend grabbing Liz Parker by the arm and dragging her into the music room. He sighed again. He had to stop this and knock some sense into Max. Slowly and carefully he crossed the hallway and sneaked into the music room after the couple.


	2. Wanna Bet?

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PART 2

***

"It hurts me that the people do not know me. It hurts me that I do not know the people."

-Konfucius-

***

Liz barely had time to recover from the shock of Max dragging her into the music room before he spoke to her.

"I need some answers," he said, walking towards her and causing her to back away.

"A-answers?" she stammered, very well aware of what he was talking about.

"Answers." His voice was firm, and it amazed him, considering the turmoil of emotions rumbling around inside of him. They were both so caught up in each other that they didn't notice Michael sneak in and hide behind a folding wall. The second he snuck into the room he had decided on eavesdropping instead of directly confronting the two, that way he'd better find out what was really going on.

"I... I don't really think that I know what you're, what you're talking about, Max." Liz was the worst liar, and she knew it, but she had to play innocent as long as she could.

"Oh yeah?" Max raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, I think you know very well what I'm talking about."

"I... I don't think I do." Liz looked away, very uncomfortable with the whole situation. When she turned her eyes back to Max, she found him standing there, his shirt drawn up over his chest. She didn't have time to feel embarrassed by this sudden exposure of skin, because gleaming back at her from his chest was a silver handprint. She gasped. This was totally unexpected. Unaware of her actions, she slowly drew closer, eyes fixed intently on the handprint. Three feet away from him she stopped and stared in awe at the mark her hand had made on his chest.

"Oh my God..." she breathed. Max slowly and somewhat bashfully pulled his shirt back down and she lifted her head to look up at him. His face was solemn and confused and in that moment she knew she had to tell him.

"Max," she began, then quieted herself, afraid she'd regret it. But after a few moments of consideration, she went on. "Max, I didn't know that... that the, uh, the handprint thing would appear like that." He didn't speak so she continued. "I guess I wasn't really sure of what I was doing."

She made a pause and studied his face, seeing all the questions lurking behind those amazing eyes of his. Who was she? What had she done to him? What did it mean?

"Max, I have to explain..."

"Who are you?"

"Who I am?" She sounded a bit shocked at his question.

"What did you do to me? What does this mean, Liz?" he said, indicating the handprint. She smiled to herself, hearing the questions she'd already seen coming.

"Who are you?" He repeated, not having noticed her smile.

She swallowed hard and looked down at the ground before speaking. "I'm... I'm not from around here, Max."

"So where are you from?"

"Well, a place... a place very different from this."

"What place? Is it foreign?"

"It's... it's very far away, that's all I know."

"You don't know where you come from?"

"Not originally, no. See, I came here... I came here very long ago..."

"I know that, Liz. We've been in school together since third grade."

"Yeah, uh, yeah, that's... right. But the thing is, where I come from... it's... I'm not sure if you'll understand. See..."

"Why wouldn't I understand?"

"Well, because... because it might sound amazing and, and unbelievable..."

"Come on, Liz, just tell me!"

Liz took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Look, Max... where I come from..." She paused and opened her eyes, looking back up at him. Slowly she raised her hand and pointed upwards.

"I come from up there," she whispered, almost as if she didn't believe it herself. He looked at her questioningly, his brow furrowed.

"From up where?" he said lowly.

She pointed even further up.

"Up there," she said.

***

Sheriff Valenti looked up at the two tourists and let out an exasperated sigh.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Landers, but I can not do anything about this unless you give me something more to work with," he said, for what felt like the tenth time.

The eccentric looking man leaned closer. "But I'm telling you, sheriff, the girl... she did something. I swear! And I'm willing to testify, if necessary."

"Testify to what? That she saved his life?" The sheriff was growing more and more frustrated.

"No, testify to that there's something strange and weird about her."

Valenti rose from his chair. "Mr Landers, there's something strange and weird about everyone." With this he walked towards the door, indicating that he wanted them to leave.

"But sheriff! You have to listen to me! The girl did something to him, and suddenly he was miraculously healed! What do you make of that?"

"I don't know, that she's got some Indian blood flowing in her veins?" Valenti tried hard not to sound too sarcastic.

The man shook his head. "No, no, I'm telling you, she's different. As in not from around here. As in..."

"Larry?" The man's female companion interrupted his speech. "I think it's time for us to leave."

"But I have to..."

"You have to get something to drink, that's what you've got to do. You're not used to the blazing desert sun."

With that she dragged her partner to the door by the elbow, and Valenti gave her a thankful smile as they left. He closed the door behind them and sat down again. If he would've had to listen to another minute of that kook and his extra terrestrial blabbering, he would surely have done something harmful and highly illegal. The man was crazy, going on about alien life and secret powers.

He picked up the report from the shooting at the café and studied it thoughtfully. There was something very strange about it, he had to admit. Not that he for a moment believed that there had been something supernatural about it, but Liz Parker had done something to the boy and he was going to find out what.

***

Max walked up to the door at a quick pace. He placed his hand on the doorknob and was about to open the door when Liz came rushing up to him and stopped him.

"Max! Don't leave!"

He turned to face her, and suddenly he looked angry.

"Liz, every single bit of respect I've ever had for you, is now totally blown away."

He was about to open the door again, but Liz grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. Then she placed herself in front of the door, making it unable for him to get out.

"Max, you can't leave."

"You're crazy!" Max exclaimed. "You're insane! I can't stay here anymore! Did you... did you honestly think I'd buy all that? Huh? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Max, you have to believe me..."

"Liz, you're talking about aliens!!! You're telling me you're an alien!"

"Okay, just calm down..."

"Calm down???" Max was so worked up he was practically shaking. "Calm down? You want me to calm down when you're standing here, trying to tell me... trying to tell me... what is it you're trying to tell me, actually?"

"Max, all I told you was true. Every single word. I'm not making it up!"

"You're telling me you're an alien, Liz! An alien! As in something slimy and gross and taken from a Sigourney Weaver movie! An alien!"

Liz opened her mouth to say something, but he wasn't finished.

"So are there any more? Is it only you or do you have... companions? Best ET buds?"

Liz didn't answer, she looked down, and Max only had to study her face to know the answer.

"Maria," he said hoarsely. Liz nodded. "Alex?" he asked. She nodded again. He shook his head. "You're insane," he said.

"I'm telling the truth!"

"You're disturbed. Mentally challenged. You should be locked up."

Liz tried to ignore the hurt his words caused her. "Max, I'm telling you this because I trust you. You have to believe me!"

She looked at him, frustrated. He looked back at her, breathing hard from the shock and bewilderment of this sudden revelation. Then suddenly he lunged at her, attempting to get her away from the door. When he was about two feet away from her, he found himself being thrown back by an invisible force, causing him to fall flat on his back on the floor. Liz called out, running up to him to make sure he was okay.

"Max! Oh my God, Max! God, are you... are you okay?"

She studied him, worried. He opened his eyes and looked up at her, and now the anger and confusion in his eyes was replaced by pure amazement.

"It's true..." he whispered, staring at her in awe. She nodded, and suddenly she felt like she was going to cry. As her face crumpled up she stroked his cheek, whispering: "Please don't tell anyone, Max. Please don't."

Then she rose and sneaked out of the room, giving him one last glance before she left. Max laid on the floor, his head spinning. Somehow he managed to get up on his feet, and he stood there for some time, shivering and swaying, emotions flying around inside of him like a whirlwind. He couldn't believe it, and yet he completely could. But it stabbed at his heart like a dagger, time after time. Everything he'd ever believed in, everything he'd ever known... everything he'd ever loved. This wasn't how it should be. `Then how come it feels like the only thing that's ever been really right?´ he thought to himself, and the memory of Liz's hand brushing against his cheek caused him to smile. It almost seemed meant to be, and it was definitely what he wanted.

"Well, what do we make of all that?"

Max spun around in time to see Michael emerge from behind the folding screen.

*****

As Max entered the Crashdown along with Michael, it seemed like a completely different place. When he looked around at the strange creatures and weird interior, he just couldn't see it the way he had before. Now it was different. Sort of eerie. And more real.

They took a booth and each grabbed a menu. There was tension between them. Michael studied his menu.

"Ironic," he muttered. Max glanced up at him. "What?"

Michael smirked and waved his hand over the menu. "You know what I mean."

Max didn't answer. He thought it was ironic too. And he couldn't possibly understand how Liz could bear living in these surroundings, constantly reminded of her own being. He didn't think that he would've been able to cope, if it would've been him. He would've cracked.

"May I take your orders?"

They both looked up. Maria was standing by their table, tapping with her pen on the pad. Max smiled nervously at her and mumbled his orders. He wondered if she knew. That they knew. It didn't seem like it, she was being her usual, indifferent self.

Michael ordered, not for a second giving away what he knew. But when she'd written it down, and was about to leave, he spoke.

"Nice scenery you've got going here."

Max could've kicked him. He should've known that Michael would try and pull something like this. Maria raised an eyebrow at him, not quiet understanding.

"Thanks," she said. "I'm delighted you felt the urge to let us have an insight in your eye for interior design."

She walked off. Max glared at Michael. "Was that necessary?" he hissed. Michael just shrugged. They sat in silence 'til Maria returned with their orders.

"Here you go," she said. "Pay at the counter on the way out."

She placed the plates in front of them. Michael studied her.

"Oh, it came out of the sky, landed just a little south of Moline, Jody fell out of his tractor, couldn't b'lieve what he seen, laid on the ground and shook, fearin' for his life,  
then he ran all the way to town screamin' "It Came Out Of The Sky."", he said, not taking his eyes off her.

Max froze, but Maria didn't even flinch. She handed them their forks and knives.

"Creedence Clearwater Revival," she said. "Although, not one of their best in my opinion, but I should've known you'd have bad taste in music."

Michael was truly surprised. He'd said it to get her out of balance, to get some sort of reaction out of her, but instead she now stood here and was making him look a fool. So he decided to keep on talking.

"You like Creedence?" he asked.

Maria made a face. "A bit too much country for me," she said. "But my mom – biggest Fogerty-fan. I've heard my share. Enjoy your meal."

With that she walked off. Max looked at Michael, amused over the fact that someone had managed to dumbfound his friend. Michael stared after her, before grumpily picking up a French fry and beginning his meal. Max smiled to himself. His gaze drifted to the counter, where Maria was talking to Liz. Max couldn't help but stare at her.

Liz carefully glanced at him and for a moment their eyes met. Max thought he could make out a tiny smile before she looked back at Maria.

Max turned back to the boy sitting opposite him.

"Have you seen Isabel today?" he asked.

Michael shook his head. "Nope. I guess she got selected to that girls group."

"Yeah. I guess." Max didn't know what to say next. He wanted to talk about the events of the day, he really did, but he just couldn't work up the nerve. And he certainly didn't know how to strike up a conversation about aliens.

"So..." he said. "Have you written your English essay yet? I'm not really done with mine."

Michael looked up at him, pausing in his eating.

"Max, I know you really wanna talk about the alien thing, so just say so."

"Michael!" His friend had been talking way too loud.

"What? What's the problem? You know about it, I know about it, so now let's just talk about it."

Max swallowed hard. He didn't know what to say. Michael sighed. "Okay, fine, if you're not gonna start, then I will." He took a sip of his Coke, then placed it on the table again, smacked his lips and started working on his fries. "I'm sort of in shock, I think. Or not in shock, more like... More like extremely in denial."

"What do you mean?" Max asked.

Michael looked up at him again. "I don't believe in aliens. Never have. And I don't now, either. But I know they exist. So I believe in them, but still not. You know?"

Max shook his head. "Not really."

"Yeah, okay, well you're probably all confused, and I see that. I mean, it's this girl you really like, although I've always voted you forget about her, and now you find out she's not at all who you've always thought she was. In fact, she's not even human. Of course you're upset. Of course you're confused. I understand that. I, on the other hand, haven't lost anything. No shattered illusions for me. But I've gained this creepy secret which, to be honest, I'm not sure I can keep, and I've gained some increased irritation towards a certain person, no, sorry, creature in this diner, whom I'm probably going to have to spend a lot of time with in the future, considering my newfound information."

He finished his last French fry. "That's pretty much how I feel."

Max didn't find any good answer to his friend's long statement, so he just sat in silence and ate, while Michael started reading a magazine. When he was finished they, as if on cue, both rose and walked over to the cashier. Maria waited for them there. She smiled sweetly at Max, until she saw the amount of money he handed over. She furrowed her brow.

"Um, I'm sorry, but I think you've made a mistake," she said.

"What?" Max asked distractedly. He'd been watching Liz take orders.

"You didn't tip me."

Max looked at her, surprised. "Well," he said. "I'm really sorry, but that's all I've got."

Maria just stared back at him, annoyed. Michael looked at her. "'Well come on baby, leave some change behind, she was a bitch but I don't care, she brought our food out on time, and wore a funky barrette in her hair'," he said. She looked at him.

"Live, "Waitress"," she said. "Better than the last one you quoted, I must say." Then she turned back to Max, who'd been digging around in his pockets, and he handed her a couple of quarters. "That's all I've got," he said apologetically, and she once again smiled sweetly at him. Michael narrowed his eyes at her and she smirked back.

"What a total loser chick," Michael said, disgusted, as they exited the diner. Max smiled, shaking his head.

"You're hopeless," he stated.

"What?!"

"The only reason you said that was because she knew which song you were quoting, and you didn't count on it, so she got the upper hand and you got pissed. So typically you. Maria's okay."

"Maria's an alien."

Max stopped dead in his tracks.

"Stop saying that."

"Saying what?"

"That! Stop saying it like that! As if you're totally indifferent, as if you couldn't care less."

"What?! What do you mean?"

"You're trying to convince me, Michael, that you don't care about all this shit. That you don't care about who they are."

Michael stared blankly at him. "You should go home," he said. "Go home and sleep. Unwire. You're a bundle of nerves."

"God, stop being so... so enervating!" Max was practically yelling.

Michael shook his head. "Go home and sleep. You're getting pathetic."

With that he walked off, leaving Max on the street. Max stared after him, then he started making his way home.

*****

"Really, there's not that much to say."

Maria sounded annoyingly indifferent. Liz walked up to her.

"He didn't say anything? Nothing about me?"

Maria shook her head. "But, I mean, it was mostly that loser friend of his who spoke. Such a chauvinist pig. Hate him already."

Liz's heart sank. Max hadn't said anything about her.

"But, I mean, he didn't look as if he was going to go speak to Valenti or someone," Maria said. "He pretty much looked as if he didn't know a life-threatening secret. Which is good, right?"

Liz shrugged, feeling miserable.

"Hey girls, having a party?" Alex placed himself at the counter. Liz muttered something at him, before walking off to deliver milkshakes. Alex raised his eyebrows after her.

"Woke up on the wrong side of the world, did she?"

Maria made a face. "She told Max today. Apparently it was totally traumatic, I mean emotionally. She's a wreck."

"So I see. How did he take it?"

"I think he's still in denial. Or he's taking it really well and is already over it. Hard to tell."

"Well, we'll just have to make sure he doesn't tell anyone, won't we?"

"Yeah, plus make sure Liz doesn't crack and dissolve into a zillion particles of misery."

Alex nodded and glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Isabel stride in with a bunch of giggling friends. Maria grunted. "Wow, I can't believe it, my idol has entered the building," she said sarcastically.

"God, Maria, why don't you just give her a break, for once?" Alex said with a silly smile.

"Oh, please don't tell me you still have a soft spot for her?" Maria whined. "You have got to be kidding me!"

"Look, I just think that, you know, that there's more to Isabel Evans than she lets the world know."

Maria smirked. "Heartbreaking," she said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll have to go take Turbo Bitch's orders."

She walked up to the giggling girl gang, poising her pen.

"What will it be?" she said, trying to sound nonchalant. Isabel looked up.

"Well, look at that," she said. "If it isn't miss DeLuca. Love your outfit. You've got such taste."

"Ditto," Maria said. "Love your style. Very street. As in "selling yourself"."

Isabel smirked at her. "We'll have milkshakes." She said. She appeared to think hard before adding, "And, by the way, at least I don't work in a diner."

Maria smiled sweetly. "I'll give you time to work on your comebacks 'til I arrive with your orders. Thank you for choosing the Crashdown."

Not giving Isabel any time to answer her, Maria left the table and walked back up to Alex. He looked eagerly at her.

"So...?" he said.

Maria looked at him. "So, Isabel and I started talking and suddenly realized we have so much in common, that we oughta spend some quality time together, so that we can really bond, you know? She's such a sweet little lady."

Alex shrugged. "I still think she's different," he said.

Maria shook her head. "I should have you both locked up, you and Liz." With that she left Alex at the counter and went out in the back.

*****

The minute Liz entered her room after finishing her shift, the phone rang. She furrowed her brow, wondering who could be calling, considering the fact that Maria was still on duty downstairs and Alex was with her. And it was pretty much only from these two people that she received any calls.

"Hello...?" she said uncertainly after lifting the receiver. No one answered. She grew worried. Worried that someone was playing a practical joke on her. Or worse. Maybe Max had told someone. Maybe someone was calling, just to check if she was home. Maybe they were coming to get her...

Her panicked thoughts came to an end as the person on the other end of the line spoke.

"Liz?" Liz's heart skipped a beat.

"Max," she breathed, swallowing hard.

He cleared his throat.

"Liz, I think we should talk. About, about stuff."

She nodded, then remembered that she was on the phone. "Yes," she croaked.

"Can you meet me outside the library in fifteen minutes? Maybe we can go for a walk."

"Okay." Liz was aware of her few words, but if she spoke more than two words at a time she was afraid her voice would crack.

"Okay, I'll see you there?" he said, sounding concerned that she might not come.

"Yep. See you there." With that she hung up, not saying goodbye. She had to get to the library.

Her heart racing, she rushed downstairs, past Maria and Alex's confused faces and out into the night.

*****

Maria yawned widely as she wiped off the counters. It was past ten o'clock and she was in for a rough day at school tomorrow, what with all the bound-to-be pop quizzes and further homework assignments that were lurking around the corner. Right now she just felt she had to get home, literally throw herself into bed and then sleep herself senseless so that she was ready for the new day when she woke up tomorrow morning. "Lucky for me that everybody considered this their night to end early," she thought with a frown. Liz had just disappeared, her parents didn't know where she'd gone off to, she'd only said something about them not having to wait up.

Maria sighed. Right now life was a piece of crap, what with Max finding out about them and all, and it didn't seem as if anything was going to make her feel better.

There was a sudden knock on the front door and Maria's heart took a leap. Her pulse racing, she slowly approached the door, and lifting the blinds half an inch, she peeked outside.

She could've hit something. Narrowing her eyes and clenching her teeth she unlocked the door to address the person outside.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed.

"And hello to you," Michael said flatly. Maria shook her head.

"Answer my question."

Michael shrugged. "The fact that I just felt the sudden urge to get to enjoy the pleasance of your company isn't enough a reason?"

"Save the bullshit. What do you want?"

"A night cap?"

"I'll give you a night *slap* if you don't get to the point within ten seconds, and please make it quick, 'cause I'm about to go home and sleep away from the world and creeps like you."

Michael paused. Then he looked at her, smiling mischievously. "I think I came up with one you don't know," he said, sounding like a five-year-old showing off his new shoes.

"A what I don't know?" Maria sneered, getting tired of this.

"A song quote."

Maria raised an eyebrow. "I doubt it," she said. "But let's hear."

"I sort of picked a theme. Put a lot of thought into it, you know."

"Whatever. Just say it."

Michael cleared his throat.

"Red sun go down way over dirty town, starlings are sweeping around crazy shoals, a girl is there high heeling across the square, wind blows around in her hair and the flags upon the poles."

When he was finished he looked expectantly at her. She just stared back at him, half-smiling.

He grinned, satisfied with himself. "You don't know it!" he said triumphantly. "I knew you wouldn't know it!"

"Dire Straits, "Lions"," she said, nodding, and now grinning even wider than he was. His smile faded, and he looked disbelieving.

"Damn," he said, truly disappointed. He didn't say anything more, just stood there looking defeated, so she spoke.

"Now that I have officially beat you again and taken a few hits at your male ego, would you mind leaving me so that I can finish up and go home?"

He looked up at her. "You just can't wait to get me away from here, can you?"

"Nope. Freaky creatures of the night just aren't all that high on my list."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Oh, really, well who's the creature here if I may ask?"

And Maria froze.

*****

When Liz arrived at the library there was no Max there. She checked her watch. Twenty minutes had passed since she'd talked to Max on the phone. He'd sounded eager to meet her, and now she was standing here and he wasn't even here yet. Was he late? Or did he just not bother coming? She looked around worriedly. It was almost dark and she didn't exactly have fuzzy feelings about being alone outside in the middle of the night.

A thought struck her. Maybe he'd been here, seen that she wasn't exactly on time, and decided on going home instead? Maybe he'd thought she didn't want to see him?

It was getting chilly. She started hopping up and down to try and keep warm, but it wasn't working. She rubbed her arms and realized that she'd been stupid enough not to change into pants before leaving. She was still wearing her uniform. And her legs were bare and she was tired and shit, shit, shit how cold it really was.

She was truly about to give up when suddenly a car pulled up at the curb. She instinctively backed away, until she saw which car it was and who was in it.

"Liz, I'm sorry, I got here as fast I could. My mom started asking all these questions."

Liz's whole body and mind breathed a sigh of relief. Max got out of the car and walked up to her. Without really giving it any thought, she shivered slightly at the cold, but Max immediately shrugged out of his jacket and handed it to her.

"Here," he said. "You look cold."

She smiled thankfully and put his jacket on, inwardly amused by the cliché, although she was sure Max had only done it because of thoughtfulness. She wrapped the jacket tight around her, sinking into what she considered Max's own, personal scent.

He stared up at the sky, apparently lost in thought. She didn't want to disturb him, so she did the same, and studied the cloudfree night sky, sprinkled with stars. She'd watched it so many times before that it felt as if she knew the position of every single star visible from earth. But now the situation was quiet different: she was watching the night sky with the first human ever to know about them. And seeing as this human was Max Evans, she didn't mind looking at the stars one more time.

"How do you define a color?" Max suddenly said, and Liz turned to look at him, somewhat startled. The question was so sudden and seemingly out of place, she wasn't sure what to say. But she didn't have much time to worry about that, Max went on talking.

"I mean, if somebody was blind, how would you explain the color blue to him? You could say that blue is the color of the ocean, or... or of bluebells, or something, but, I mean, that wouldn't help, 'cause the person is blind, so he wouldn't have seen any of those things."

He finished, and Liz thought frantically to try and come up with a good answer. But all she could manage was a, in her own opinion, lame "Yeah, uh, that's interesting."

He nodded, not taking his eyes off of the sky. "Yeah, it is," he said. "I mean, sometimes when I look at the stars like this, I come to think of all these interesting things, that I never seem to remember afterwards."

"Uh, yeah, I know what you mean," Liz said, wishing she could come up with something deep and poetic to blow him away with, but her mind didn't seem to be willing to co-operate. Actually, she was starting to find the situation rather awkward. He kept saying all these cryptic things, and she just stood there feeling stupid, not being able to come up with any great answers. Not even thinking about it, she sighed to herself, but it was loud enough for Max to hear and he turned to look at her.

"Liz?" he asked. "Am I boring you?"

Liz looked up at him. "Oh, no, no! Not at all!" she said, shaking her head. "Not a bit, what you're saying is really... really beautiful. I just... I don't know how to respond."

Max smiled at her. "You don't have to say anything," he said. "It's just nice to stand here and have someone really listen for a change."

And with that he suddenly took hold of her hand. She didn't have time to react before she was standing there, holding his warm hand and once more looking up at the star sprinkled sky.

***

Maria placed the carton of rocky road ice cream on the counter and handed Michael a spoon.

"Here," she said. "But don't be a pig and do not, under any circumstances, spill one little drip of goo on the counter, or I might just rip out your eyes with my bare hands."

"Hey, calm down," he said. "No need to get all pre-menstrual on me, I was just craving some sugar, missed my dinner."

Maria rolled her eyes before digging in. Michael looked thoughtful before speaking again. "By the way, are aliens even, you know, menstrual? Do you get that kind of thing?"  
Maria snickered. "Yeah, we get "that kind of thing", as you so knowingly called it. And pretty much all the other human shit you get."

"So then, what are the bonuses?"

"Bonuses?"

"Yeah. I mean, you're extra terrestrial. You've got to have some cool thing that we don't have."

Maria shrugged. "There are a few things I can do, that I'm pretty sure you can't do."

"Like...?"

Maria grabbed the ice-cream carton just when Michael aimed his spoon at it. He was about to protest, but instead converted to staring wide-eyed as she moved her hand over the carton, instantly changing it's contents from brown and white to a light shade of green. She then placed the carton in front of him again.

"There," she said. "Pistachio."

Michael stared at the suddenly transformed ice cream, at first in awe, then with slight disgust.

"Very cool, but I happen to hate pistachio. It makes me sick."

"Well, sometimes we have to deal with things that make us sick," Maria said. "Even if they show up unannounced in the middle of the night and demand sugar."

Michael smirked at her. "Very funny, I fully appreciate your sense of humor."

She just shook her head. They ate in silence for a while, then Maria spoke.

"I can't believe Max told you. Liz swore we could trust him."

Michael shrugged. "He didn't exactly tell me. I sort of found out half of it and he told me the other half."

Maria shook her head. "Whatever." She checked her watch. "Okay, you object of my contempt, I think it's time for you to scram."

Michael didn't move. Maria leaned in closer, overarticulating. "Did you hear me, Bozo? I want you to leave!"

Michael just shook his head. "Why should I leave? This is pretty much a once in a lifetime experience. I mean, I'm sitting here, in the middle of the night, talking to an alien. Like, an _alien_! What are the odds, huh?"

Maria sighed. "Well, if you ask nicely, I might consider letting you speak to me again. If I'm not too busy."

"Oh, with what, like dating? 'Cause I can always join in."

Maria sighed. "Go home."

"I mean, how is it with that, with dating? I've been meaning to ask. 'Cause isn't it sort of hard to date someone who thinks you're, you know, human?"

"I'm not sure, I try to keep away from stuff like that."

The instant she said it she wanted to take it back. That was not the sort of thing you wanted to spill to someone like Michael Guerin, more experienced in that department than most 20-year-olds.

"What, you've never dated?" Michael asked.

"Of course I've dated!" Even Maria herself heard that the reply was a bit too quick to sound true. "I've dated, I've just never... I've, you know... it's not really..."

"You've never dated!" Michael stated, amused at her fumbling words. The glare Maria gave him was enough to kill a minor ox.

"Well, okay, so I haven't!" she snapped. "So what? It's not like... I mean, you've never been different, you've always fit in. I can't really expect you to understand the situation I am constantly in. And I know it might be hard for your thick brain to comprehend, but dating and... and guys isn't really my first priority."

"Oh come on!" Michael exclaimed. "You're sixteen years old and you're trying to tell me the biggest issue your brain deals with *isn't* boys?"

"As a matter of fact, yes I am. Every 16-year-old doesn't have to be a 24-7 horny and sexually unstable love-seeker, just because you are." The venom in her voice only fired him up even more.

"Oh yeah, like you never think about sex!" he said with a smirk.

"Maybe I don't, would there be something wrong with that?"

"Not wrong, but there would be a high abnormality factor to it."

She leaned over the counter, closer to his face. "Well, in case you've forgotten, there isn't much that's normal with me," she said before going off to check the money again. She hoped he would leave, so that she would've gotten the last word, but much to her annoyance he didn't consider the conversation finished.

"Are you really saying guys don't interest you?" he asked as he followed her to the cashier, and now he sounded almost fascinated.

"Pretty much, yeah," she answered. She didn't like where this was heading. He was screwing with her mind and she was worried she'd say something she'd regret soon.

"I don't believe you," he stated firmly. She could feel her face flush and was careful to keep her head down as she counted.

"Oh really?" she said, trying to sound as bored as possible.

"In fact, I bet I could get you flat on your back within a week," he said, still perfectly calm.

"Oh, go home and watch some porn, Romeo."

"Wanna make it a bet?" he asked daringly.

"Are you really that stupid to think I would let you put the moves on me after making a bet like that?" she asked with a laugh, her eyes still on the cashier.

"Is that a yes?"

Now she finally dared to look up at him, and found him smiling playfully at her.

"Sure. I mean, I could do with some extra cash," she said.

"Alright," he said as he straightened up, getting ready to leave. "Let's say 20 bucks. And I've got a week."

"Fair enough. But you do realize you could just give me the money right away, don't you?"

He put on his jacket and headed for the door. But before he left he looked at her one more time, with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "We'll just see," he said with a crooked smile before exiting and closing the door behind him. Maria followed him with her gaze. When she could no longer see him, she leaned forward, resting her head in her crossed arms on the counter. She groaned silently. What the hell had she just gotten herself into?


	3. Little White Lies

****

PART 3

***

"We discover in ourselves what others hide from us, and in others what we hide from ourselves."

-Vauvenargues-

***

Liz just couldn't stop checking her watch. She was well aware of the fact that constantly checking your watch made time pass slower, but she couldn't help herself. Chemistry had never been this boring before. The last ten minutes had felt like an hour, not to mention the last hour, which had felt like a day.

And it was painfully clear how empty the seat next to her was. She had known Max wouldn't be there when she came to class, he had told her of his dentist appointment the night before, but she hadn't thought it would make such a difference to her. Now she couldn't wait 'til lunchtime when Max would be back and had promised to meet with her.

When the bell rang Liz shot up and was, for a change, the first person to exit the classroom. She was so set on getting to the cafeteria as quickly as possible that she in the midst of it all forgot about Maria and Alex. They reached her when she was halfway down the hall and Maria didn't hesitate to show her disapproval of Liz's speed.

"Geez, Liz, what are you, Road Runner?" she said with a frown.

"Sorry," Liz said with an embarrassed smile. "I just... I was just really hungry."

Alex raised an eyebrow and Maria turned to him. "By that she means hungry for some of that hot Maxwell lovin'," she said and Alex ahhh-ed to show he understood.

"Oh stop it," Liz said, blushing. "I just wanted to be on time... in case, you know... in case he had to, uh, go somewhere."

Maria smiled, amused. "Well, can we come, or do the star-crossed lovers want some privacy?"

"Oh, let's just go in," Liz said, wishing to escape Maria's comments.

When they came into the cafeteria there was no Max to be seen. Liz's heart sank. She started to think that maybe he'd forgotten. At that moment Michael came up to them, a glass of water in his hand.

"Liz, Alex," he said, looked at Maria and added, "...my project."

"Project?" Alex said, looking puzzled.

"Ignore the creature of repulsion before you," Maria said. "Let's just go eat."

Michael put out his hand to stop her as she tried to get past him. "Hold on." Slowly and provocatively he drank up his water, glancing at Maria to see her reaction. She gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't move. When he was finished he smacked his lips, lowered his hand from in front of Maria and turned to Liz.

"Max wants to see you," he said. "He's sitting outside. You should go there, he's been waiting."

In a second Liz was gone, leaving Alex and Maria with Michael. "Let's get something to eat," Maria said to Alex. "Although I've almost lost my appetite." She glared at Michael who firmly looked back at her, while Alex looked back and forth between the two, not understanding what was going on. Maria started to walk off, but was stopped by Michael speaking to her.

"You know, there's a lot more to come," he said calmly.

She turned around. "Figures," she said with a smirk. "I'm really looking forward to it."

With that she walked off, a bewildered Alex at her heels. "What was that about?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing. Just a person with serious problems. Yuck."

*****

Liz's smile was unusually bright and broad as she approached Max, having lunch alone at an outside table.

"Hi," she said, and she tried to take the width of her smile down a few notches as she said it, but it was impossible, she couldn't help herself. Max looked up and a smile, although somewhat more modest, spread over his face too.

"Hey." She seated herself. 

"No lunch?" Max said and at that moment she was suddenly aware of the fact that she hadn't brought any lunch with her. Which was rather silly and, as she now realized, a big fat sign that she hadn't been able to wait a minute before seeing him. And suddenly she felt pathetic. 

"Uh, no, I... I wasn't all that hungry..."

He didn't seem to have a problem with that and now Liz just hoped that her indeed very hungry stomach wouldn't insist on growling.

"So... everything okay with your teeth?" she asked.

He nodded, and finished chewing before speaking. "All okay," he said. "I'm the dentist's nightmare: brush my teeth two minutes, two times a day. As ordered."

Liz smiled. Suddenly Max frowned. She looked at him questioningly.

"Liz..." he began.

"What is it?" she asked, suddenly worried.

He sighed and took a sip of his drink. "Valenti came to see me this morning."

Liz's heart skipped a beat. "Oh." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"He wants me to come talk with him. Today. After school."

Liz nodded. He went on. "I just thought I should tell you. You know, check with you, if..."

She nodded again. "You should go."

"You think?"

"Definitely. I mean... We wouldn't want to cause any suspicions, right?"

He nodded, slowly. "Right."

There was silence between them. Liz's mind was racing and she knew, she just knew, that Valenti had found some sort of proof to use against her. He wasn't stupid. Surely he'd figured it out by now. It had only been a question of time, really. And now the time had come.

Max was about to speak when the silence was broken by a female voice.

"Max!"

Tess came running up to them and threw her arms around Max's neck, startling him. Liz automatically shot up from her seated position.

"I, uh, I should... go," she stuttered. Tess took no notice of her, but Max got up, too.

"No, Liz, wait."

It wasn't until then that Tess noticed her presence. She lowered her fashionable sunglasses and eyed Liz critically. "Hi," she said, not letting go of Max.

Liz smiled insecurely. "Hi." She turned to Max. "I have to go. We can, uh... we can go over the chemistry notes after school, or... or maybe tomorrow."

Max nodded, and for some reason felt ashamed. He wished Tess wouldn't cling to him like that, he wished she wouldn't have interrupted him and Liz, who now was leaving the cafeteria, obviously rather uncomfortable. He sighed and, unsuccessfully, tried to loosen himself from his girlfriend's possessive grip.

"Who was that?" she said, completely failing in trying to hide her disapproval.

"My lab-partner, Liz," Max said. "And surely you've seen her, we've gone to this school for over a year."

Tess shrugged. "I try to keep away from the grass roots, so to speak," she said.

And Max hated her.

***

Valenti studied the young man seated opposite him. So far Max Evans hadn't shown any sign of being nervous, he just sat there waiting for the sheriff to start talking. So Valenti decided to oblige.

"So, Mr Evans..." he began, then checked the file which laid open before him. He looked up at Max again. "Were you at the Crashdown Café on the 24th of November this year?"

Max looked thoughtful. "Gee, I don't know sheriff, I go there quite a lot."

Valenti leaned forward, folding his arms on the table. "Let me clarify: Were you at the Crashdown Café on the afternoon when two men argued and a gunshot went off?"

"Oh," Max said. "That makes it a bit easier." He nodded. "Yes, I believe I was."

Valenti nodded, smiling. "Alright. Then that's clear." He leaned back in his chair. "Quite a commotion, wasn't it?"

Max politely smiled back. "Indeed, sheriff."

Valenti paused. It didn't seem as if this kid felt the urge to spill all of it to him. He had a feeling he could be in for a hard time when it came to this case. But he knew exactly which questions to ask. Without looking up at Max he spoke.

"What did your mother say about the shirt?"

He could almost hear how startled Max was.

"The shirt? What... What shirt, sheriff?"

Valenti looked up at him. "Your shirt. You spilled ketchup. Must've been hard to get the stains out."

Now, was it just the light or did Max Evans suddenly turn pale? Valenti smiled to himself. Now they were getting somewhere.

"The shirt..." Max began. "Uh, the shirt... No, it was ruined. I threw it away."

"I know."

Even more confusion spread over Max's face. "You... you know?"

Valenti nodded. Max's face turned from pale to a strange shade of gray. "Have... you been going through my trash... sheriff?"

Valenti didn't make a move. "When the company which takes care of the trash in our town finds something suspicious and seemingly connected to some sort of crime, they send it to us." He paused. "And in this case they found a shirt completely covered in something red, suspiciously similar to blood. Naturally they sent it to us."

He leaned forward, closer to Max. "But was there any blood on the shirt, Mr Evans?"

Max's brain was working frantically, trying to come up with an answer. "No?" he said uncertainly.

Valenti once more smiled that, in Max's eyes, creepy smile. "See, that's where you're wrong. We let the lab do some tests, and as it turns out, there was blood on the shirt. There was *your* blood on the shirt."

Max didn't speak. At this point he felt it was better to just listen.

Valenti continued. "And there was a bullet hole. In the shirt. Blood and a bullet hole. Now what do we make of that?"

Max continued to be silent. "Now, I ask you again," Valenti said, "Were you or were you not hurt on the day of the Crashdown shooting?"

Max sat silent for almost a minute. When he finally spoke, it was in a low voice, almost impossible for the sheriff to hear.

"I don't know what you want," he said. "And I don't know what you think happened. But I do know, that if you don't have any sorts of suspicions against me about anything, then you can't make me stay here. I want to go home."

Valenti could've slammed his fist in the table. 'Cause the boy was right, of course. He didn't really have any right to make him stay here, he had just wished that Max wouldn't see that, and just answer the questions instead.

"You're right," Valenti said. "You don't have to be here. You're most free to leave."

He got up to show Max that he really didn't have a problem with him leaving, and Max did the same.

"I just want you to know that you're free to come talk to me, any time you're ready. No matter how strange what you have to say is."

Max nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

***

Maria placed the plates on the table in front of Michael and Isabel.

"There you go," she said. "Pay at the counter on your way out."

Isabel eyed her critically, while flicking a cigarette with her left hand. "Do you have a lighter?" she asked coolly.

Maria looked disgusted. "This is a no smoking zone," she said. "And even if it weren't, I wouldn't have a lighter, seeing as I do not feel the need to kill my lungs brutally and end up coughing my guts up."

Michael snorted. "She's a good girl, who loves her mama, loves Jesus and America too," he said matter-of-factly.

"Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers," she shot back. "Boring, boring song."

"Yeah, and seemingly dedicated to you alone," he said, making Isabel laugh scornfully. 

Maria felt her face heat up, she hadn't expected him to respond, but she decided it would be best not to speak any further. She left the table just as Max entered the diner, flustered. He joined his friends at the booth.

"Where've you been?" Isabel asked, almost accusingly.

"Nowhere," Max replied, trying to sound at ease. It didn't work.

"Where's this nowhere place, then?" Isabel asked suspiciously. "You've been gone for, like, two hours, and Michael didn't know where you were." She glared at Michael before adding: "Or claims he didn't know."

Michael shrugged. "I didn't know."

Max's eyes automatically drifted off until they landed on Liz, standing by the counter talking to Maria.

"I swear," Maria said, "if that scumbag thinks I'm even going to let him come near me after all of this, then he's so outrageously wrong."

Liz shook her head. "I just don't get it, Maria. What's this bet really about?"

Maria felt her face flush. "Oh... oh, it's just some silly idea he got. He thinks he can make me go out with him within a week." She didn't want to tell her friend the full story quite yet.

Liz raised her eyebrows. "Wow," she said. "Sounds a bit stupid. Why would you go out with him after a bet like that?"

"Exactly what I said! But he insisted, and, well, I'm always in need of extra cash." She looked over at the table she'd just come back from. "Oh lookie, Max is back from his encounter with Valenti." 

Liz's head shot up. "Oh," she said. "Maybe... maybe you should go take his orders?"

Maria looked at her, smiling. "Or maybe you should admit how desperately you'd like to go there yourself."

Liz blushed and quickly tried to cover it over. "I-I do not... desperately want to go there. And besides... I'm real busy. Not to mention it's your table."

Maria sighed. "Whatever, you creature of denial. I'll go. But don't come complaining when I puke all over the rest of the customers at the table."

Max smiled at her when she came up to them. "Hey, Maria."

"Hi, Max. What can I get you?" She felt proud of herself for managing to seem so at ease with coming back to that particular booth.

"Oh, just... Just a milkshake."

"Flavor?"

"Uh... Strawberry?"

"Is that a question or a demand?"

Max smiled. "Let's call it a request."

Maria offered him a sweet smile back. "You got it," she said and was about to walk back to Liz when Michael spoke.

"I'm all right, I'm all right, I'm just weary to my bones, still you don't expect me to be bright and bon vivant, so far away from home, so far away from home."

She froze. And found herself wondering if he knew. If he somehow knew that that was the song she used to listen to, the song that had kept her alive and perky ever since she was old enough to appreciate music, the song that had given her hope of someday and somehow fitting in and feeling at home. Memories of herself as a child and the indescribable loneliness that had always insisted on accompanying her hit her with such force that she felt the old, well known tears prick at her eyes, and she swore that the room swayed right there and then. For the first time in her life she saw the slightest bit of hope that someone, someone who wasn't Liz or Alex, could understand how pained she always felt, no matter how cheerful a facade she put on. And at the same time it stabbed at her insides and at her heart because she knew that nobody, nobody at all could ever understand anything. It was so incredibly unfair.

"Maria?"

Max's voice snapped her out of her whirring thoughts. She dared not look at them, fearing that they would see her eyes brimming with tears.

"Uh... yeah?"

"You okay? You looked kind of dizzy."

She shook her head. "No, I'm okay. I just... I have a bit of a headache. Sorry, I'll get your milkshake now."

"What about the song?" Michael said and she stopped again.

"The song?"

"Uh-huh. Or maybe you don't know it?"

She dared glance at him long enough to see his disgustingly satisfied grin and suddenly felt very stupid for even thinking that he could ever understand anything.

"Yeah, right. Umm... Paul Simon, "American Tune". Piece of cake." Not waiting for a reply, she rushed back to the counter.

*****

Isabel ran and ran and ran and still she was hardly getting anywhere. Her violator was right behind her, she could feel his breath against the back of her neck, and she could hear his panting. The road they were running on only went one way, she was aware of that, and she was also aware of the fact that it had no end, she would be running forever. And he would chase her forever. It was always the same. Always exactly like this. But she still hung on. Just to see if something would be different this time, if the end might be different.

The man was now reaching out to grab her hair. This was where the scary part began. She swallowed hard, and an instant later he grabbed her hair, full force. She opened her mouth to call out to someone but no sound came. 

No big surprise there. It was a known fact that you couldn't scream in dreams, especially not in nightmares. They slowly halted to a stop and as he caressed her hair she shivered with fear. It was always like this. She was always so weak and vulnerable and small in here, she hated it. But she hung on. Every night. Until she woke up, drenched in sweat and breathing hard as she whispered to herself that it was only a nightmare, nothing more than a nightmare. And she was safe. Until the next night when the same thing would happen and she would still hang on, just to see if something would turn out different, if she this time could stand up to him.

It didn't look as if it would be any different this night. He stared down at her, his eyes dark with hatred and evil. He smiled, a crooked, sickening smile and she felt her teeth start to clatter, this was almost unbearable. She couldn't believe how an illusion of the mind could be so incredibly real and frightening.

Suddenly his eyes shifted emotion, he looked surprised. But not by her, by something over her left shoulder. Ever so slowly she turned her head to see what it was that had made him so astounded.

It was sort of an anticlimax, seeing Alex Whitman standing there. She'd been so excited and relieved over the change in her dream, and she'd turned around slowly, almost hearing the dramatic music building up, and then she saw him there. Plain, tall, dorky. As he always was. Isabel's heart sank. She'd so desperately hoped that it would be someone who was there to rescue her. Then she silently cursed her mind for taking such screwed turns. Alex Whitman? *Why* on earth was he here in her dream?

She didn't have time to react before Alex was beside her and speaking.

"I think you should leave her alone."

And Isabel found herself feeling strangely safe. Her violator stood there opposite them, jaw almost touching the ground, practically paralyzed. Alex repeated his words and suddenly the man flickered, like a light bulb about to give up. Within moments he was completely gone. Isabel could do nothing but stare at the spot where he'd stood. It took quite some time before she could gather herself enough to turn around and face Alex.

Only he wasn't there anymore.

*****

"Alex!!!"

Maria's shrill voice cut through the mellow conversation of the Crashdown. Quite a few heads turned towards her and Alex, standing by the cashier, so she lowered her voice.

"Alex, I thought we agreed: no dream-walking! And then you go and do it again!"

"No, you and Liz agreed no dreamwalking. I never promised not to do it again."

Maria shook her head and narrowed her eyes at Alex. "God, can't you see the risks? I mean, you don't think Isabel Evans finds it somewhat strange to suddenly find *you* standing there in her dream?"

Alex smirked at her. "I'll try not to feel insulted by that. And by the way, I'd hardly call it a dream. More like vicious nightmare."

"Dream, nightmare, I don't care!" Maria was getting really fired up by now.

"Look, Maria, the point is that I went in there and I didn't like what I saw. She was really scared."

"Oh, poor thing," Maria said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I sincerely hope she didn't get her feathers all too ruffled."

Alex shook his head. "You wouldn't understand."

He waited for his snappish friend to deliver another harsh comeback, but found that her attention had been drawn away from him and was now directed at something over his right shoulder. Slowly, trying to be discreet, he turned his head around and spotted sheriff Valenti entering the diner. Alex furrowed his brow. He never had liked that man. The way Alex saw it, he was totally overdoing the whole bad ass southern sheriff act, what with the hat, boots and sunglasses (and way too tight pants), not to mention the fact that he found pleasure in psychologically tormenting his enemies with tricky questions that would leave them giving themselves away.

"Morning, sheriff." Maria's smile was a thousand watts. He nodded back at her, not for a moment letting go of that grim look. Alex smiled weakly, feeling like a cornered animal. The sheriff looked around the place before looking back at the two.

"Got everything back in order after the shooting?"  
Maria nodded, pulling her smile up a few notches. "Everything's fixed, sheriff. I mean, not that there was really any mess to clean up."

The sheriff nodded, looking thoughtful. "I'd still like to talk to the two of you. About what you saw."

"Gee, sheriff, is that really necessary? I think we've told you everything already." Maria got the words out through gritted teeth.

The sheriff smiled at her, a smile that made Alex shiver. "Yeah, I know, but just to make sure," Valenti said. "How about I'll come by your house this afternoon?"

Maria nodded, cheerful, but after the sheriff had left the diner her smile faded. "Oh great," she said, sounding depressed. "Now I have to watch him flirt with my mother again. Every time he comes over I practically drown in their drool."

Alex, who knew how tough her mother's fling with the sheriff was for Maria, gave his friend a quick hug.

"You'll cope," he said. "You always do."

*****

"And what do you think is the main reason to why Steinbeck wrote this book?"

The teacher's hawkeyes searched the classroom, as usual looking for the person least likely to know the answer. Her eyes stopped on the young boy in the back, who was seemingly oblivious to the fact that a class was being held in that particular room.

"Mr Guerin?"

Michael did not even flinch at hearing the teacher speak his name. Without in any way changing his laid back position in the chair, he answered.

"I'd think it has something to do with the care-taking of tiny animals."

A few scattered laughs were heard, but the teacher's eyes narrowed even more than they'd been before.

"Mr Guerin, why do I get the impression that you haven't even done the reading?"

Michael smirked. "Oh dear, I don't know. What could make you think that?"

The class laughed again, all save Max and Maria. Max was too busy gazing out the window and Maria was determined not to laugh at anything that person said.

The teacher sighed. "I think it's time for one of your conversations with the principal again," she said. "Your grades are dropping, no exceptions, and I will not tolerate any more of this behavior. Off you go."

Michael gathered his books together and rose from the chair as the teacher turned to the blackboard and wrote down keywords while telling the class the actual reason to why Steinbeck had written the book. When Michael passed Maria's desk she stared straight down at the books before her, not about to let go of the promise she had made to herself about not looking twice at that person, but to her dismay he stopped next to her desk and leaned down closer to her ear.

"Shoot her for me, will you?" he said lowly before continuing out of the classroom. His words had only been audible enough for a few people surrounding her to hear, and some of them giggled quietly at the remark. Even Maria smiled, but immediately caught herself. She shook her head. She had not been amused by his words, and she had most certainly not thought that he smelled great when he passed by. Stop it! She cursed herself silently and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remove the image in her head of Michael exiting the classroom.

"Could you perhaps give us the answer to that, Miss De Luca?"

Maria's head shot up. "Uhhh... what?"

The teacher looked coolly at her. "Never mind. Maybe somebody else knows."

Maria sighed, and she felt as if she actually could see her grade dropping further and further down, until it landed on something around a D-.

And her mother was going to kill her.

Damn.


	4. Losing Your Mind

****

PART 4

*****

"When one canoe disappears, another one takes it's place"

- Maori saying -

****

*****

Max barely had time to react before he was in the car with Liz. Maybe fifteen seconds had passed since she'd run up to him outside of the school, declared that she had to speak to him and dragged him over to the car. Max had obliged and stepped into the car, not asking any silly questions (although he had a bunch in store) seeing as Liz seemed so wound up.

They drove in silence for about ten minutes. But when they passed the "Thank you for visiting Roswell" sign, Max felt he had to find out what was going on. He glanced at Liz whose eyes were glued to the road.

"So, Liz..." he began. She didn't react so he went on speaking. "I'm sort of going to miss history, so I'm thinking that maybe you owe me an explanation? To this sudden... travel-wish of yours."

Liz didn't for a second take her eyes off of the road. "Listen, Max, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to be quiet during the ride. I'm not really an excellent driver, and if I get distracted there's the chance I might... you know, crash."

"Oh." Max felt it was best to stay silent, it would be rather unfortunate to get into some stupid accident now. He turned his attention to the landscape rushing by outside. And he kept his eyes on it and saw the scenery become more barren, but also more beautiful and magical, and as they continued their drive Max slowly came to the realization that they were going some place he'd never been before.

He glanced at Liz. Her mouth was a firm line and her eyes were squinting at the early afternoon sun. Careful not to block her view even the slightest, he slowly reached up and folded down the shade. Her eyes were hid from the sun and she smiled.

"Thanks," she said, and let her shoulders drop a little. Max smiled to himself, aware of the fact that he was in a car with the prettiest and most special girl he'd ever known, rushing towards an unknown, secret place. Not exactly his idea of a bad day.

*****

Isabel frowned as she stared down the road. Her irritation was growing every second and she checked her watch for the tenth time. Great. She was going to be late and it was all her stupid brother's fault. Of course he had to forget. Of course he had to turn senile on this very day and forget to pick her up. Oh, never mind that today was one of the most important days of her life, what with it being the first day that she was an official participant in one of the girls' dinner meetings. She checked her watch once more. Now it was forty-five minutes 'til she was supposed to be there. Forty-five minutes! That was usually the time it took for her to do her hair.

She sighed heavily and made a decision. She was going to accept that her brother wasn't coming to pick her up and she was going to walk home, call Darla and tell her she was going to be late. Then she would track Max down and kill him slowly and painfully with a Swiss Army knife.

As she started walking her gaze drifted across the parking lot and she stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted the Jeep. It was standing there in the same spot they had parked it in earlier the same day. Isabel frowned. That didn't make any sense. If Max didn't have the Jeep, then how had he gotten home?

"Hey, sweetheart, looking for a ride?"

Isabel turned her head at the age-old pickup line and found herself resting her eyes on the coolest car she had ever seen. Incidentally the guy behind the wheel was the hottest guy she'd ever seen. Isabel smiled. Now, this was more like it. She slowly and somewhat seductively sauntered over to the car. She tilted her head and brought one end of her sunglasses to her lips.

"Maybe."

The guy flashed a sixty-thousand dollar smile at her and her heart started beating faster.

"Is that an actual maybe or is it a subtle wish to join me in the car?"  
One of her mother's guidelines that Isabel actually followed was "never get in a car with a stranger". But this was no ordinary stranger and Isabel found herself opening the door and placing herself in the passenger's seat. The guy slowly pulled out in the street. Isabel observed his well-built biceps bulging out from under the sleeves of his tight t-shirt and almost giggled at the scene's resemblance to some trashy Harlequin novel.

"I'm Isabel," she said, never letting go of her trademark sexy smile.

"Kyle," the guy said simply. "Kyle Valenti."

Isabel raised a perfectly tweezed eyebrow. "You wouldn't happen to have a relative who's in law enforcement?"

"Sure do. My dad's the sheriff in this town."

"Oh really?" Isabel was surprised. "I've never seen you around."

Kyle shrugged. "Well, I only arrived here last week. I've been living in California with my aunt for quite a while."

Isabel was truly impressed. "California, wow! Oh, you can't be happy about trading that for this dump."

"Well, I must admit I was rather pissed when I first heard about it, but I don't know..." He eyed her with a crooked smile. "Seems things are starting to go my way."

Isabel smiled back, pleased. It seemed things were starting to go her way too.

*****

Maria thought she was going to be sick. She tried to avoid looking straight at the man, but was forced to when he started waving his chubby fingers in front of her face.

"Hello?" he said. "Earth to alien girl."

She would've laughed at the irony in his comment if it weren't for the fact that she was frantically trying to be a good waitress at the same time as she was busy keeping her stomach in order.

"Oh, yeah, sorry... What were you having?"

She looked at him, although reluctantly, and saw his face. And oh yes, there it was. The very large clut of melted cheese hanging on for dear life to his lower lip, only sliding a bit back and forth against his chin as he spoke.

"As I said earlier, when you weren't listening, I'm having another one of them burgers with the wacky name, and fries and a shake."

She scribbled frantically on her pad, glad to get her eyes away from his face. She nodded as she wrote the last word. "Got it," she mumbled.

But of course he couldn't let her get away that easily. "Are you _sure_ you got it?" he drawled in his broad, southern accent. 

"Yes, I'm sure I got it!" She spat out the words through gritted teeth. Then she grabbed the empty plate from in front of him and retreated to the kitchen. She sent the plate off across the counter towards the sink, but missed it and there was a loud crash as the plate instead fell to the floor and shattered into a million pieces.

"Hey! That'll be drawn from your paycheck!" The cook stuck his red face around the corner, glaring at her.

"Whatever," Maria yelled. "It's not my fault that no one's doing the dishes around here."

She was about to lose her temper. This day just wasn't kind to her. Not many days lately had been kind to her, as a matter of fact. Ever since the Big Revealing, where Max found out about them, her nerves had been under constant strain and it had been pointed out to her by Liz and Alex more than once that she wasn't much fun being around.

She stomped over to the cleaning closet and fished up a keychain from her pocket. The first key she tried didn't fit and it was the final one she tested that slid into the lock. She twisted it fiercely to the right. Nothing happened. She tried again, but the door wasn't unlocking. Once again she cursed the fact that she didn't have as much control over her powers as Liz and Alex, or else she would've fixed the door open bye working some alien mojo.

She gave a little yell, and in a fit of desperation she started kicking at the door at the same time as she shook the key back and forth in the lock. She was getting angrier by the second and frustrated as hell. Everything was against her. Not even the damn key to the cleaning closet was cooperating.

Then she felt a pair of strong arms encircle her and two big, warm hands closed over her shaking ones, one on the key and one on the handle. She felt the warmth of a body behind her and a low voice spoke in her ear.

"Here, let me help you with that."

The hands slowly and firmly pulled up the handle of the door before twisting the key. She heard the lock click and then the door glided open as the handle was pushed down. She noticed her erratic breathing and she inhaled deeply and held her breath to stop her lungs from wheezing the way they liked to when she got worked up.

The hands let go of her trembling fingers and found their way up to her shoulders. Resting there, they firmly pushed her inside the closet. After letting go of her, the person stepped in beside her and observed the mess.

"How ironic. You people need a cleaner for your cleaning closet."

Maria didn't even have enough strength to fire the usual sarcastic remark at him. Instead she just stood there, regaining her composure. They were silent for a while before she spoke.

"Thanks," she said. "For the, uh... assistance."

He shrugged. "No problem. I saw you getting a little crazy and I was like, "Everybody asks me how she's doing, has she really lost her mind?", so..."

She smiled, but didn't look at him. "We're standing her in a cleaning closet and you're quoting Dave Matthews band to me. You're so... odd."

"Yep." He grinned, clearly impressed that she'd recognized the song. "I'm your help, I'm your dream, I'm nothing in between, I know you wouldn't want it any other way..."

"Meredith Brooks. It's getting easier. I think you're losing your touch."

"Nah, I'll never lose my touch."

She couldn't help but look up at him then and when she saw his sly grin, she blushed and quickly turned her head away. She started rummaging around, looking for a broom.

"I really didn't think you'd know that one," he said. "I mean, the quote."

"I thought you'd understood by now. There's not a song quote on this planet that I don't know of."

"So I'll have to get intergalactic will I? Any good rock groups on your home planet?"

"Why are you here, really?" Maria said with a sigh. "I mean, apart from saving me and helping me conquer the portal to the cleaning closet."

"I just came in to see how you were doing. You know, maybe talk a little."

Maria grunted as she heaved out a bucket blocking the broom. "That is so lame."

"What do you mean lame?"

"What you're saying. "I just wanted to talk a little"." She gave a small laugh. "I mean, that's more transparent than a..." She searched her mind for a suiting metaphor, but finding none, she shrugged. "I don't know. Something really transparent."

"What, it's so strange that someone might want to talk to you? Geez, you don't have very high thoughts of yourself."

"I didn't mean it like that," she said. "I meant, you know, about the bet. It strikes me as somewhat strange that you suddenly want to talk to me, now that there's 20 bucks involved. Your attempts, to win the bet, they're rather lame."

Now that she had retrieved the broom from its hidingplace, she looked him straight in the eye, and was surprised by his expression.

"The bet?" His face was one big question mark. Then realization dawned on him. "Oh, right, the bet. Yeah... I understand your comment now."

She could do nothing but stare at him, puzzled. Could this be true? Could it be that he had actually forgotten about the bet and only came in here to see her? No, that was stupid. She shook the thoughts away a second after they entered her mind. Of course he hadn't forgotten. He was just trying to make her believe he had wanted to see her. It was all part of the game.

An angry yell from the cook reminded her of the fact that there was broken china to be sweeped up and angry customers to be served. She hurried out of the cleaning closet without responding to Michael's words.

*****

"Close your eyes."

Max obeyed, although he desperately wanted to ask why he had to have his eyes closed. He stood there for a while, listening to Liz locking the car and retrieving something from its trunk, before he felt her small hand grab his arm by the elbow and drag him off. The speed was a bit on the high side for a blindfold walk but he kept his eyes shut and instead took ridiculously careful steps. He smiled to himself, knowing that he must look like John Cleese doing his "funny walk".

They kept on walking in silence. Every now and then Liz slowed down and helped him over tree trunks and rocks, but soon after she picked up the speed again and went on. Max felt himself grow strangely calm. Technically his body should be tense and anticipating a sudden drop or obstacle, but he found he was completely relaxed. He trusted Liz, with his life even. 'Well, it's only fair, seeing as she saved it,' he thought to himself.

He let his head drop back and he took a deep breath of the hot but clear desert air. The chirping of birds was all around him and a light, warm breeze ruffled his hair. It was so peaceful, so tranquilizing that for a moment he forgot where he was. The reminder came rather abruptly, as he bumped into Liz who had stopped walking.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," he said, trying to regain his balance, but with the blindfold he lost all sense of orientation and found himself falling, flat on his back.

"Max!" Liz was beside him in an instant, freeing him from the blindfold. When it came off, he squinted, adjusting his eyes to the light. He leaned on his elbows and shook the sand and grass out of his hair. Then he felt Liz's hands on both sides of his face.

"God, are you okay?" Concern was all over her pretty features. He found himself thinking that her worry for him was quite becoming.

"Well, I can't speak for God, but I myself am okay."

She smiled at him and his stomach went flip-flop. 

"So, that was interesting," he said as he slowly, and with her assistance, got to his feet. "I've never been on a blindfold walk through the desert before. But I guess there's a..."

His words caught in his throat along with his breath as he looked up, and his heart dropped right down into his stomach. 

There was incomprehensible space before him. The ledge they apparently were on ended just a few feet ahead, then dropped down into nothing, leaving a gap of maybe five hundred feet before the rocks continued on the other side. Far, far away, mountains stretched along the horizon, and leading up to them were fields of red, sharpedged rocks. But the canyon down below him rebelled with its soft greens and yellows and blues, shutting out the dry desert and creating a world of its own, completely out of place in the harsh vastness of the desert. It was so unbelievably beautiful.

Max's mouth formed words that never reached further than his throat and his eyes suddenly grew misty. He blinked frantically, wanting more of this astounding sight, and was shocked when he felt tears spill over and burn his cheeks. He tried to stop them, this was stupid, what was he doing? Why was this happening? Why was he crying? He felt Liz take his hand and squeeze it, and then suddenly his mind was spinning wildly. He tried to grasp a thought in the mess, but all he got was single words, shooting out at him and screaming like sirens.

Alone. The tears kept on flowing and Liz gripped his hand even harder. A tingle started at his fingers and worked its way up his arm. Alone. It's crazy. Where? Somewhere. Alone. Somewhere.

Images filled his head. They were of Liz, all of them. With Maria. With Alex. With her parents. Alone.

The words screamed louder, they all wanted his attention and he tried, he really tried to listen, but they were getting louder by the second, all of them at once.

Come in. Here somewhere. Crazy? Come in, alone. Crazy. Crazy. So small. It's huge. It's perfect. Where? It's perfect. Somewhere. Alone. Mindboggling. Come with me. Come on in. My mind. Somewhere. It's time. That's crazy. Alone. My mind, mindboggling. That's crazy. It's so big. It's perfect. Alone. _I'm so alone._

Max barely heard himself scream before everything went black.

*****

"Okay, so how 'bout this one?"

Michael finished his piece of art before showing it to Maria. She looked at the plate, turned it around, squinted and then shook her head.

"I don't have the faintest idea," she said. "But if I'd have to guess, I'd say... the Eiffel tower."

Michael gave an exasparated sigh. "No, no, no. It's a giraffe!"

Maria raised her eyebrows. "If that's a giraffe, then I'm Queen Elizabeth."

"Well I guess you just can't appreciate fine art, Your Majesty. 'Cause that's a giraffe. It's as clear as anything."

"It is not. It doesn't even look like an animal, let alone a giraffe," Maria said. "I thought you were supposed to be good at drawing. Aren't you, like, the only person ever to get an A in miss Malone's class?"

"Sure am," he answered, not hiding his pride. "Which only proves that you're the one who doesn't have an artistic eye. This is a giraffe. Deal with it."

"Whatever," Maria said. They were still in the Crashdown, but it was almost closing time and there were hardly any customers to tend to. Michael had come up with the brilliant idea that they should play Ketchup Pictionary about half an hour earlier, and they'd had a lot of laughs trying to guess what the other had drawn with tomato sauce on the plate.

Michael looked at his watch and got to his feet. "I hate to leave on the verge of another fascinating argument, but I have a great big social studies test on Monday, and right now I'm not even sure which party our current president represents."

"Figures," Maria said with a smirk, as Michael put his jacket on.

"I won't be offended by that," Michael said. "The fact of the matter is that I just think everything about politics is so bloody boring, and not worth knowing."

"There's nothing wrong with that, I mean, a little anarchy's always refreshing, but there's a big difference between rejecting politics because you're against the system, and just not be bothered learning anything about it because you're too lazy."

"Catchy. You should start a political party of your own, you know."

"Well, I might just do that!"

Michael shook his head. "I don't have time for this. As much as I hate politics, it'll be straight to the horrors of summer school if I flunk social studies."

"Yeah, go on, do as you always do, run off the minute you realize your wrong."

Michael gave a crooked smile. "Oh, I'm not wrong. I just don't have time to sit around and chat. We can finish this discussion tomorrow evening. You can keep on biting my head off at Senor Chow's, if that suits you."

Maria couldn't believe her ears. "Excuse me?" she spat out. "Tomorrow evening? Senor Chow's?!"

"If you're not busy. But I'm guessing you won't be, seeing as your social life's pretty much non-existent."

"You have some nerve..." Maria searched her mind for insults, but she was too worked up to come up with anything good.

"Oh, give it up and say yes already. I have to start now if I'm gonna have a chance to win the bet."

Maria shook her head in disbelief. "I don't believe you!! You are so... so..." She gestured wildly with her hands to try and illustrate what she meant. Michael followed her moves.

"Sexy? Exciting? Magically attractive?"

"Shameless." Maria said and stopped her waving.

"That's what you like about me, right?" Michael said with a grin. 

Maria rolled her eyes. "I give up. You're hopeless."

"You give up? So you're saying yes to the date?"

Maria sighed. "Just as long as you're paying."

Michael grinned, and for a while Maria thought he seemed truly pleased that she wanted to go out with him, but then she reminded herself 'It's just about the bet. Nothing else. Stay focused.'

"Saturday it is, then," he said, and picked up his bag. And then he did something that caught Maria completely off guard – he leaned over the counter and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. With a swift wave, he then exited the Crashdown, leaving Maria completely dumbfounded, the imprint of Michael's lips still burning on her cheek.

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A/N: Well. This is all there is so far. I don't know, maybe I'll continue this story some time in the future, if I go on a great big creative whim or something, because I remember that I really enjoyed writing it, but I wouldn't count on an update in the near future. Anyway, for those of you who've made it this far, thanks a bunch for taking your time to read this story, and please leave a quick review to let me know what you thought of it.


	5. A Night in the Desert

****

A/N: Well, waddaya know. I really didn't think I'd be continuing this story, but seeing all your sweet and encouraging reviews for the first four chapters prompted me to go off and write the next part. And I guess I'll be continuing the story, 'cause I rediscovered how much fun it is to write about these specific characters. So hopefully, part 6 will be up in no time (but don't take my word for it. I tend to get long, frustrating spells of writer's block).

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Part 5

***

"The same fence that shuts others out shuts you in." 

- Bill Copeland -

***

When Isabel entered the house that night she was met by her mother, who was more than a little annoyed.

"Isabel!" Mrs Evans cried. "Where on earth have you been?"

__

I haven't been anywhere on earth, Isabel thought to herself, a silly smile playing on her lips. _I've been in heaven._ But this was not the explanation she gave her mother.

"I'm really, really sorry, mom. The meeting was a bit longer than I thought it would be."

"A bit longer?! You said you'd be home by nine! It's _ten-fifteen!!_"

"Mom, I said was sorry. I couldn't exactly just get up and leave in the middle of the main course."

"Well, you could've called. We were worried sick."

Isabel held up her cell-phone. "No batteries," she said. Then she – knowing exactly how to deal with situations like this one – gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and said "I'm sorry I had you worried, Mom. I didn't mean to."

Her mother's face softened. "It's okay, honey. Just try to let us know next time, okay?"

"Okay." Isabel feigned a yawn. "Wow, I'm really tired. I think I'll just go to bed."

"Alright honey, you do that," her mother said. Then she looked a bit puzzled. "You haven't heard anything from Max, have you?"

"No," Isabel said. "He's not home yet?"

Her mother shook her head. "He mentioned something this morning about meeting Michael tonight, to "go over some things", whatever that means."

"Then I'm sure that's where he is," Isabel said. "Or maybe he's taken Tess out to dinner. He wouldn't go off anywhere far away without telling you first." Her mother seemed reassured by her words, but Isabel herself wasn't. Max would've called, even if he was just at Michael's. But she didn't want to worry about that right now. He was probably just out brooding somewhere, as he seemed to enjoy doing nowadays. She had more important things to think about.

Entering her room, she flopped down on her bed and gave a happy sigh.

It had been a great night. Absolutely perfect. But not thanks to Darla Simmons and her lame dinner group. No, no. That wasn't the reason she'd been late. She'd found something better. Or rather some_one_.

As she closed her eyes she could see the image of Kyle Valenti smiling that million-dollar smile of his, tests of his brown hair brushing over his forehead in the evening breeze. They'd had a wonderful time together, absolutely wonderful. First he'd taken her to the restaurant where she was supposed to meet up with the girls, but when she was about to go in she realized that she suddenly didn't feel like having dinner with a bunch of giggling girls who were all about as shallow as a wading pool, and she'd told him as much. So he'd asked her if she would like to have dinner with him instead, and of course she'd said yes. They'd eaten at a small and non-expensive yet perfectly cozy Italian restaurant, and he'd held the chair out for her and paid for her dinner, like a true gentleman.

Afterwards they'd taken a walk in the park, and talked about all sorts of things. She'd found out he'd moved to Roswell to get to know his father better, whom he hadn't even met in four years, and that he would begin his studies at West Roswell High on Monday. She'd promised him a guided tour of the school and he'd thanked her, smiling that amazing smile of his and making her heart beat a little faster.

After dropping her off he'd insisted on walking her to the door, and on the doorstep she'd received a soft kiss on the lips and a promise he'd call her the next day. And she dearly hoped he would.

She sighed happily again. It was rarely that she, Isabel Evans, certified Ice Queen and notorious breaker of young men's' hearts, was truly interested in someone, but now she found that she was. She wanted to know everything about Kyle Valenti, his hopes and dreams and desires, and she couldn't wait for him to call her tomorrow so they could arrange another date.

Suddenly, in the midst of her romantic dreams, she found herself wondering about Max. It was rather strange that he was out this late, without letting anyone know. And she remembered the Jeep which, for all she knew, was still parked outside the school. Could something have happened to him?

And, if that was the case, what had happened and where was he now?

*****

When Max came back to consciousness, his first thought was that a long time must've passed, seeing as night had fallen and he was met by the sight of millions of stars twinkling down on him.

He worked himself up on his elbows and looked around. He was still on the ledge, but now the landscape was shrouded in darkness, resulting in the somewhat worrying fact that he didn't know how far from the edge he was. He sat up properly and squinted, trying to make something out in the pitch-black of the night, but it was impossible.

He suddenly realized that he was all alone and a tiny ball of panic formed in his stomach.

"Liz?" he said quietly. No answer.

He tried again, a little louder. "Liz?"

Still no answer. His panic increased and he scrambled to his feet, only to find himself rooted to the spot, not daring to take a single step in any direction, seeing as he wasn't sure where the edge was. His breathing was getting erratic and he pulled an unsteady hand through his hair.

A number of thoughts whirred through his mind. Could she really have left him? Was it some evil plan she, Maria and Alex had come up with – now that he knew their secret they had to get rid of him somehow, and what better way then to drive him off to some hidden place and leave him there to die? Could Liz really have done that to him?

Suddenly he felt incredibly scared. His heart was beating faster and faster, and he was getting dizzy from having to strain his eyes to see something in the darkness. Sitting down again, he pulled his hands through his hair and tried to get control of his breathing, desperate to clear his mind. If he had in fact been abandoned here, he had to work out some sort of strategy to survive. He had to come up with a way to get back to Roswell.

He was suddenly aware of how cold it was out here. He wrapped his jacket tighter around him and drew his knees up under his chin in an attempt to keep warm.

How could Liz have done this to him? And, more importantly, how could he have so utterly misjudged a person? He sighed dejectedly to himself and rested his forehead on his knees, closing his eyes.

"Max? Are you awake?"

Liz's voice was soft in the deathly quiet of the night, but still made Max jump.

"Liz!" he exclaimed and got to his feet.

She emerged from the darkness carrying something in her arms. "Max, are you okay? You look a bit worn."

Max breathed in deeply and closed his eyes, relief flooding over him. She hadn't left him here to die. She'd just… well, what was it she'd been off doing?

"Where were you?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound too accusatory.

"I just went to the car to get this." She came closer and showed him what she was carrying. A quilt. "I thought you might be cold. I didn't know you were going to wake up while I was gone. I hope you didn't get, you know… worried or something."

"Oh, I didn't," he lied. Then he came to think of the earlier events of the day. "Liz, what exactly happened to me?"

"Happened to you?"

"Yeah. I blacked out and have been unconscious for hours. Why?"

Liz didn't answer him, she just looked down at the ground. Then she walked over to him and grabbed his hand. It was small and cold in his own, which, despite the cold, was relatively warm.

"Let's sit down," she said, and led him over to a fallen tree-trunk. He sat down and waited for her to do the same, but she didn't. Instead she remained standing, hugging the quilt to her and staring down at the ground. She looked almost pained.

"Liz?"

She didn't answer, just stood there, and suddenly her chin began to tremble. Max froze. He _hated_ seeing people cry, absolutely hated it. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to make her feel better, but didn't have any clue as to how he could do so.

"Liz, what's the matter?" he asked. 

Still not looking at him, she drew in a shaky breath. "I feel so stupid," she said, her voice barely a whisper.

"Stupid?" Max said, incredulous. "Why?"

She didn't answer. Instead she tilted her head and bit her bottom-lip. Max could see she was really crying now. Desperate to make her feel better, or find out what was wrong, or _something_, he grabbed hold of her left hand, which was clutching the quilt, and pulled her over to sit down next to him. She didn't make any objection. When she was seated, he released the quilt from her hold and pulled it around the both of them. He instantly felt warmer. He could feel Liz next to him, could feel her draw in shaky breaths and releasing them again. They were sitting close together, and their legs were touching, all the way from the hip to the knee, and it was all he could do not to put his arm around her and bury his nose in her hair, breathing in the scent of her, which was evident to him even now. To keep himself from doing any of those things, he concentrated on holding the quilt closed around them, and decided on once again trying to get her to talk to him. But just as he opened his mouth, she spoke.

"I don't blame you if you don't ever want to see me again," she said and sniffled.

Max was truly surprised. This was not what he'd thought she would say. He looked down at her. "What are you talking about? Why wouldn't I want to see you again?"

She sighed and tilted her head again, and for a second Max thought she would lean her head on his shoulder, but then she straightened up and seemed to regain some of her composure.

"I just wanted to let you know that I understand. If that's the case. If you, you know, don't want to have anything to do with me again."

"Liz, I still don't see why you think I'd suddenly want to break up our friendship."

She looked up at him then, and in her eyes was an "I'm not stupid"-look. There was something else in there too, something he couldn't put his finger on, but which made him want to pull her into his arms and tell her everything about how he felt.

"Max, don't try and tell me what happened earlier didn't bother you. Don't pretend it didn't affect you in any way."

"Well, Liz, I can't really do any of those things, seeing as I don't have the faintest idea what actually happened to me."

She looked away. "You're right. I'm sorry."

He waited for a continuation, but it didn't come. "So are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?" she asked evasively, avoiding his eyes.

"You know what."

She sighed. "Look, there's not really all that much to tell. I tried something that worked a little too well and now I know I shouldn't even have considered trying it in the first place. It was stupid. Unnecessary. And now I'm… well, embarrassed."

"So what did you try?" he asked. But she clearly didn't intend on answering him, she just sat there, silent. Suddenly Max became very frustrated. Not giving any thought to what he was doing, only wishing to find out why he was here and what had happened, he reached one of his hands up and placed it on Liz's cheek, gently but firmly turning her head and forcing her to look at him. Her eyes were wide with surprise, but she didn't say anything.

"Look, Liz," Max said. "I think I've been a fairly good sport about all this. I didn't say anything when you drove me off without an explanation. I didn't complain when you blindfolded me and led me through the woods. And I didn't give you a hard time when I woke up after having been unconscious for hours, only to find I was _still_ out here in the woods, _still_ not knowing where I was or when I would be going back. But frankly, my patience is starting to run out. I'm tired and cold and, to be honest, a teeny bit scared, and I think my mother might've had an hemorrhage by this point from worrying too much. So I think it's not too much to ask of you to tell me where we are, when we're going back or at the very least why we even came here in the first place!"

Max looked away after his long statement. He felt a bit stupid for getting all worked up like that. After all, he was known for being able to keep his cool in all situations. When he'd gathered himself a little, he looked back at Liz, only to find her staring back at him, a slightly amused look on her face.

"Well," she said, and a small smile formed on her lips. "Why don't you tell me how you _really_ feel?"

Her words made Max laugh, partly because it wasn't often that Liz Parker was heard using sarcasm, but mostly because he was relieved she wasn't crying anymore. He suddenly found himself relaxing and without thinking he grabbed her hand under the quilt and squeezed it. She didn't say anything about it, just squeezed back before tipping her head back and observing the night sky. Max did the same, and it was first upon seeing the millions of tiny, bright dots sprinkled across the canopy of the heavens that he remembered how starry the nights could be out in the desert. He, Isabel and their mother and father used to go hiking sometimes when they were younger, and often Michael would come along as well. The three friends would lie in their sleeping bags under the open sky, staring up at the stars and trying to make out certain shapes and patterns. Every now and then they'd see a shooting star and Isabel would shriek that they had to make wishes, quick, and then Michael would tease her about wishing for something stupid, like a Valentine's Day card from Rick Tucker, causing Isabel to punch his shoulder and deny any wishes for cards from Rick, even though he admittedly was the cutest guy in the fifth grade. Max would lie silent during their arguments, completely awe-struck by the enormity of the sky and the multitude of stars, and wonder how _big_ it all really was, and whether or not it ever ended. He wouldn't really come up with any answers, though, just more and more questions, and sometimes the questions would scare him and make him realize how small he actually was, but mostly he'd just be fascinated. A fascination which had followed him through his early teens and all the way to high school, where he'd become the lab partner of the equally science-captivated Liz Parker.

The afore-mentioned Liz Parker now interrupted his nostalgic thoughts. "Max," she said, and he turned to look at her again. She was still staring up at the sky.

"What?"

"Did you feel anything earlier? I mean, before you… before you blacked out."

Max thought back on the turmoil that had filled his mind the moments before he fainted. "Yes. I felt something."

Liz turned to look at him then. "What did you feel?" she asked. There was an earnest, almost hopeful look in her eyes that for some reason made Max's heart ache.

He took hold of her hands and held them in his own. Suddenly he didn't feel he needed an explanation to why he was here, or what had happened to him. He stared back into the depths of her brown eyes as he spoke. 

"Liz, it's not important what I felt. What's important is how I feel now. And I want you to know that whatever happened to me earlier, it didn't in any way make me wish I didn't know you, and it didn't make me want to never see you again. If possible, it made me want to get to know you even more than I wanted to before." He paused and looked down at her hands, resting in his. "And Liz?"

"Yeah?" Her voice was barely a whisper. He looked up and met her eyes again.

"You can count on me."

She smiled at him, looking grateful and relieved and moved all at once. Max hesitated, before leaning in even closer, about to say something he didn't even want to share with the surrounding trees. Just with her. These words were for her.

"And you're not alone," he whispered, so close to her face he could feel her breath on his cheek. When he drew back and looked into her eyes, they were brimming with tears. But she didn't look sad. She just looked immensely thankful.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she whispered, and put a hand over her eyes. "I'm just… you know…" Then her entire body shook as she was overcome by sobs. She released her other hand from Max's grasp and brought it up to her face, covering it completely as she cried.

But this time Max didn't feel awkward or embarrassed or desperate to get her to stop crying. Instead he wrapped an arm around her and, placing a hand on her head, pulled her to him. And she buried her head in his chest and cried and cried 'til she didn't seem to have any tears left. Then Max grabbed her hand again.

"Come on," he said and smiled down at her. "I think it's about time we get back."

She nodded and smiled back up at him, and hand-in-hand they started making their way back through the woods to the car.


End file.
